Online Game Items Taxable?

This will probably sound absurd to most of you, and rightfully so, but there's some question as to whether items obtained in an online game can be taxed. Even if there is no real world financial gain, player to player item transfers may one day be taxable. You know the saying, the only assurances in life are death and taxes, and without some serious objection to this, you may one day be taxed to death in your favorite MMO.

"Given growth rates of 10 to 15 percent a month, the question is when, not if, Congress and IRS start paying attention to these issues," said Dan Miller, a senior economist with the Congress' Joint Economic Committee, who is also a fan of virtual worlds. "So it is incumbent on us to set the terms and the debate so we have a shaped tax policy toward virtual worlds and virtual economies in a favorable way."